Tan Dun celebrated the 50th birthday of his friend, the conductor Yu Long, with premieres by the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra — and their audiences.

A chant from a Peking Opera tune contains Yu Long's given name: "Long li ge long, long li ge long…" Before the concerts, Tan Dun recorded himself chanting "Long li ge long." With WeChat, a popular Chinese mobile messaging app, he sent his recording to several million WeChat fans.

At the July concerts, audiences learned that when Tan Dun signaled from the podium, they should click on their WeChat apps. After the orchestral introduction of his new Long Li Ge Long: A Symphonic Poem with Mobiles and Audience Chant, he cued the audience, and the recorded chant emerged from their phones to became part of the piece, followed by live chanting: a melding of ancient and modern.